This is one of those “a picture speaks a thousand words” blog posts. And in a nutshell, the local fauna at my current apartment block (though not for much longer) has turned hostile:

Said starling has made its nest above the motion sensor light above the (only!) egress of our communal garage. It’s turned the previously simple routine of arriving and leaving into a mad dash to pass through the restricted area before its self-appointed sentry notices and reacts.

Here’s a shot showing the notice from the previous image, the entrance to the communal garage, and the motion sensor light. The colour balance and contrast is very off, but I was far more concerned for my own survival than capturing a photo that people such as Ettienne would approve of. (On that note, I’m planning a mission to Fish Hoek over the weekend for sunrise shots, depending on weather and whether I can drag myself out of bed at around 04:20…)

And if we zoom in, we get a glimpse of the antagonist:

I have no idea when the starling’s nest is planning on being removed, but considering the risks of a) aerial attacks while the forcible eviction is taking place and b) the starling rejecting the nest and its offspring if it’s been tampered with, no doubt our Body Corporate will be making sure it gets done properly. Which will probably take a while. In the meantime, I’m trying to obtain one of these…